What Is Crown Lengthening?

Posted August 10, 2015.

Crown lengthening is a procedure where gum and bone tissue are recontoured to expose more of the tooth crown, making teeth appear taller. This surgery is used to treat gum disease, fix a tooth that is broken below the gum line, or alter the appearance of teeth covered by too much gum tissue. Your dentist performs this minor surgery through the following steps:

Injection of a local anesthetic to numb the area.

Incision to the gum tissue so it can be pulled away for reshaping or repair to teeth.

The gum tissue is stitched together again.

The area is cleaned with salt water and has a dressing applied to it.

Your dentist will give you pain medication to take after this procedure as well as a prescription mouthwash and aftercare instructions. You should contact your dentist immediately if problems develop such as:

Swollen lymph nodes

The dressing becomes loose and falls off

Severe pain not relieved by pain killers

Bleeding that does not stop

Excess swelling or discharge

However, most of the time you should experience no problems and very little pain after this surgery. Just be sure to brush carefully around the area and keep a soft diet for a few days.

Request an Appointment

Celebrating 25 Years! Enter to Win!

2017 marks Dr. Waggle’s 25th year in denistry. To celebrate this big anniversary, each week for 24 weeks a $25 gift card to a local business will be rewarded to one lucky winner. On the 25th week, a grand prize winner will be selected to win tickets to an OSU Football game. Register each week and check back to see if you are the winner!